Above Blossom Lake, up the trail nearly a mile, is Upper Blossom Lake. It is a smaller but quite similar lake at a bit higher elevation and it even had a small snow bank at the far side. The foliage up there is lush and beautiful and it gets far fewer visitors.
Montana Outdoors 
So pristine! Do you ever run into bears in those remote places?
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Comment by wordsfromanneli — August 5, 2012 @ 11:15 pm
Not too often, probably because I’m not usually on the trail during the evening or nighttime hours. I see quite a few though fairly close to where I live.
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Comment by montucky — August 5, 2012 @ 11:20 pm
Grizzly or black bear?
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Comment by wordsfromanneli — August 6, 2012 @ 8:47 am
Black bears. Grizzly country starts about 20 miles to the west of my house and I don’t get over there as often.
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Comment by montucky — August 6, 2012 @ 9:31 pm
They can easily cover 20 miles if they’re hungry. Don’t have the fan on when you’re frying bacon.
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Comment by wordsfromanneli — August 6, 2012 @ 11:54 pm
So beautiful. I love the squirrel pic!
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Comment by Jo Woolf — August 6, 2012 @ 1:54 am
The squirrels here are small, but very cute and perky. As was the case here I usually have the wrong lens to get a good photo of them, but I try anyway.
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Comment by montucky — August 6, 2012 @ 9:33 pm
LOL Love that squirrel capture!
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Comment by TheDailyClick — August 6, 2012 @ 4:11 am
I thought he was really cute, and he was patient enough to give me a chance to get a photo.
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Comment by montucky — August 6, 2012 @ 9:33 pm
So happy to know these places exist…
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Comment by Ellen Grace Olinger — August 6, 2012 @ 6:13 am
I am too, Ellen. One of the reasons for my blog is just that, to let folks see what the back country is really like in the hope that then they will be more inclined to support protection for it.
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Comment by montucky — August 6, 2012 @ 9:36 pm
Oh my, such a piece of heaven.
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Comment by Homestead Ramblings — August 6, 2012 @ 7:22 am
I think it is too. We have a beautiful planet on which to live!
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Comment by montucky — August 6, 2012 @ 9:40 pm
What kind of birds would you hear or see on a walk like this?
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Comment by anniespickns — August 6, 2012 @ 7:24 am
I hear many more than I see, and unfortunately I can’t identify most of them. Usually grouse are around and above the hillsides that have open meadows inhabited by ground squirrels there are hawks and eagles in the air. In the more dense parts of the forest especially where there is a stream I hear thousands of calls from a single species of bird that I have never been able to identify. It has a single tone trill that lasts nearly 3 seconds, a very pleasant and haunting call. I believe it comes from a small gray bird a little larger than a wren but they are very shy and I get only glimpses of them. Oddly, at the trail head here there were about a dozen crows flying around, for what reason I don’t know.
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Comment by montucky — August 6, 2012 @ 9:46 pm
Maybe those crows were having a caw-cus!
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Comment by shoreacres — August 7, 2012 @ 6:11 am
Ahhh Heaven on Earth!
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Comment by dhphotosite — August 6, 2012 @ 7:31 am
That’s relatively untouched country, the way it has always been, affected very little by our species. I’m so glad there is still some places like that left and hopr we will have the good sense and will to preserve them.
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Comment by montucky — August 6, 2012 @ 9:48 pm
Those trees are just magnificent…. What a sweet capture of the squirrel!
I saw the comment on the bears — when I’ve hiked in the north and northwest, that was always a fear (one was tracking us a bit for curiosity’s sake)… Do you bring along repellant?
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Comment by FeyGirl — August 6, 2012 @ 8:00 am
I always carry a pistol, not especially for the bears but in case of other things like mountain lions. Ironically, the pistol has saved me and several bears a lot of grief (without actually having to shoot one) and I’ve never had an altercation with a lion. When in Grizzly country I also carry a canister of Counter Assault attached to my pack strap.
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Comment by montucky — August 6, 2012 @ 9:54 pm
Ah, good to know… We need to get some repellant for outside hikes. We have a large knife/machete (no pistol) we carry along with us, as well. Don’t know how well that would do with a large kitty, though…
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Comment by FeyGirl — August 7, 2012 @ 5:55 am
There have been quite a few problems this year with cats in Montana. It’s a good idea to have something along just in case.
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Comment by montucky — August 7, 2012 @ 4:03 pm
Beautiful photos, Terry…love those mountain trails and lakes…so compelling.
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Comment by seekraz — August 6, 2012 @ 8:15 am
I think we enjoy many of the same kind of places, Scott!
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Comment by montucky — August 6, 2012 @ 9:54 pm
It sure seems that way. 🙂
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Comment by seekraz — August 6, 2012 @ 10:45 pm
I LOVE the light & shadow play in the 2nd image… beautiful! =)
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Comment by Tricia — August 6, 2012 @ 9:11 am
All other things aside, those trails are just a wonderful place to be!
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Comment by montucky — August 6, 2012 @ 9:55 pm
I was going to say the squirrel shot was lucky, but most of luck is putting yourself in the right place at the right time, isn’t it? The shot of the sawn logs reminds me how much easier travel in the mountains is with trails that are maintained (especially in this age of relentless fires and beetle kill).
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Comment by Kim — August 6, 2012 @ 9:21 am
Exactly, Kim. The more time you spend in the back country the more chances there will be for shots like that. Yes, I appreciate the work of the trail crews very much. I worked on one as a volunteer a few years back myself. Unfortunately, the trail crews in this region are not being supported by the ranger district (due to money problems they say) and some of the trails are not in very good condition. This one had been sawed out as far as the Upper Blossom Lake, but there were trees across the trail from there to Pear Lake. On a recent hike to Thompson Peak I noticed that that trail has had no attention for several years now (it goes through a big fire area) and if I had not been there before I would not have been able to follow it. These old pack trails that have been maintained since the 1930’s are real treasures and I hope they are not ever lost!
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Comment by montucky — August 6, 2012 @ 10:03 pm
Snow? I bet the water is really cold.
Your picture is proof that squirrels are acrobats!
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Comment by bearyweather — August 6, 2012 @ 10:25 am
Yes, that water is ice cold. The ice hasn’t been gone from the lake for too long now and the stream that exits the lake has a good flow rate. That part of our watershed is still in very good condition. Squirrels sure are acrobats and entertainers as well! Their presence adds a lot to the woods in my opinion!
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Comment by montucky — August 6, 2012 @ 10:06 pm
Love your wilderness, so happy that I can come visit your blog and see tiny pieces of it each time. Thank you.
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Comment by Bo Mackison — August 6, 2012 @ 12:27 pm
I appreciate your visits Bo, and I’m glad you like to see what these mountains and forests are like. Thank Goodness for the National Forests!
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Comment by montucky — August 6, 2012 @ 10:11 pm
Just a pretty as yesterday’s lake! I wonder where the name came from? I can guess that it was a person who appreciated the wildflowers he or she was seeing.
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Comment by sandy — August 6, 2012 @ 2:14 pm
This time my timing wasn’t right for them, but on other trips I saw that there were large amounts of pink spiraea along the lake shore as well as large numbers of white violets. The stream area where it leaves the lake was also just full of various blooming plants. I’ll bet that is where the name came from. The next lake up the trail, Pear Lake is exactly in the configuration of a pear, and that’s where it got its name.
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Comment by montucky — August 6, 2012 @ 10:15 pm
it looks as though you have been to some wonderful places! so much beauty!
if you know what my last pink flower in my recent post is…. please let me know, it is a low bush, lots of it around.
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Comment by Tammie — August 6, 2012 @ 3:08 pm
That’s a beautiful little flower but I’m not familiar with it. I left you a comment with a possible ID that I found at the Burke Museum site but I don’t have a high confidence that it’s the one. I will watch for it!
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Comment by montucky — August 6, 2012 @ 10:17 pm
The yellow flowers by the squirrel are a nice touch. That’s part of what amazes me about this country – the flowers are everywhere, even if only a few scattered about. The color is so nice against all the greens and browns.
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Comment by shoreacres — August 7, 2012 @ 6:14 am
Flowers grow wherever they see a window of opportunity. It adds a lot to the landscape!
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Comment by montucky — August 7, 2012 @ 4:06 pm
What a fun surprise to view the picture of the perky little squirrel in the middle of the other ones! Wonderful pictures, as always!
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Comment by Mama's Empty Nest — August 7, 2012 @ 1:18 pm
The squirrel was just as curious as could be. I think I was in his living room!
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Comment by montucky — August 7, 2012 @ 4:07 pm
Far fewer visitors of the 2 legged variety but I’m sure the 4 leggeds appreciate that. What a cute squirrel. So pretty how the pines are right up to the water.
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Comment by Candace — August 7, 2012 @ 10:25 pm
I think that it’s a very good thing that the wildlife in places like that is really wild. I see lots of signs of them but infrequently encounter them. There was even some wolf sign at Pear Lake.
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Comment by montucky — August 7, 2012 @ 11:18 pm
Pure wilderness. It’s refreshing simply to look at these photographs!
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Comment by Watching Seasons — August 9, 2012 @ 10:37 am
Love the squirrel, and the nature too, of course.
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Comment by bentehaarstad — August 9, 2012 @ 5:43 pm
That was great photo from the squirrel! Enjoyable photos all of them. Are there any fishes in Upper Blossom Lake?
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Comment by Sartenada — August 9, 2012 @ 11:12 pm
I have never fished in any of the subalpine lakes myself, but I’ve heard that there are rather small trout in some of them, the larger and deeper ones.
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Comment by montucky — August 10, 2012 @ 9:21 pm